While a court ruling on an AT&T cellphone tower near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness awaits a judge’s decision, the Koochiching County Board rejected a request by the company to build a 350-foot tower near Voyageurs National Park.
The International Falls Daily Journal has the story HERE.
AT&T asked to build the tower in an effort, the company said, to provide better coverage in the area. Last year, AT&T had proposed a taller tower in a different site, but revised the plan by lowering the tower height and altering its location.
At the county board meeting last week, area residents, Voyageurs National Park, and the advocacy group Voyageurs National Park Association, expressed opposition to the tower, which would be visible from Rainy Lake and the national park.
The county planning commission recommended denying a conditional use permit for the tower. The county board accepted the recommendation by a 4 to 1 vote. A request by AT&T to receive a 60-day extension on its request was also denied.
AT&T has also proposed building a 450-foot tower near Fall Lake in Ely, MN which would be visible in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. The advocacy group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness sued to stop the project. Arguments in the case were heard last month.